Final Countdown!

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

We weathered the rains from the hurricane.  Nuevo Leon received more than its share of the water but I need to make a correction.  The southern part of our state remains in drought conditions and farmers are losing cattle by the hundreds.  The storm just didn't reach that area.  The hardest hit is Galeana where we have boondocked in the past at the famous Laguna  de Labradores (check the link, there is no longer any water left in the lake)  and the Pozo de Gavilan.   They have dug wells as deep as 200 meters with not even a drop of water.  The local universities here in Monterrey have had collections of bottled water with some bottlers providing free water and tanker truck companies donating their transport services.

Everything here has turned green in a matter of days and the grass really needs a good cutting.  I hope to get that done before we leave although we will have someone maintaining the place while we are gone.

Now the countdown has begun and we seem to have everything under control.  We won't really be gone that long but I want to leave the house in good order so that when we return at the end of August there isn't much to do.  

I will start stocking the rv with things we have had in storage mostly kitchen stuff.   I need to get clean linens on the bed and pull out the electric blanket hoping it will run fine off the inverter we have.  I guess I should give it a try first.   Groceries and things like that are not important as we are only traveling a couple of days and we can go shopping once we arrive at Hacienda Contreras.  We have enjoyed the weather so much this week here in Santiago with all the rain that we are really looking forward to our stay. 

This morning we are going into Monterrey to an electronics store called Steren.  If you live in Mexico you have heard the commercials.  They sell just about everything electronic and much bigger and well-stocked than an expensive Radio Shack.  We will be looking for  the digital 12 volt meter reader and after that picking up the new Guia Roji.  I've decided to hold off on the battery box.  It would be better to wait until we get to where we are going so that someone from town can do the work.  I can't drag the rv through the streets of Monterrey and leave it parked.  No one around here is interested in doing such a small job.  So, I will strap them in place and if the weather should get bad we can take them off and stow them until we arrive to our destination.

I will be keeping the SUV this week.  I want to have a scan done on the transmission.  It has always been a little stiff putting it in reverse and better safe than sorry.  While we had an oil change, a bulging hose running from the radiator to the water pump was detected so I picked that up yesterday along with a new air filter and antifreeze.   Good thing we had the engine checked.

I also have my cardiologist appointment on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to noon.  They are giving me a break at 9 a.m. to get a coffee and something light to eat.  A bit nervous as we have had three siblings with bypass and one with a stint.  Out of ten kids that's not a good record and the younger ones I doubt have had any checkups.